Hem Blog

HE&M Saw is sad to announce the passing of J.R. Rupprecht. John Russell “J R” Rupprecht passed away after an extended battle with cancer on Friday October 5th, 2018 at the age of 75. J.R. held many titles over the years at HEM Saw including Regional Sales Manager, Service Manager, Plant Manager, and most recently was instrumental in Material Handling Applications and Design.

J.R. was involved for a large portion of his life in the steel industry and owned a sawing service center outside Chicago for many years before joining HEM Saw. He was the “go-to” guy for questions about sawing efficiently and operating HEM Saws to perform their best. His passions included cars, racing, and his beloved Chicago Cubs baseball team.

A native of the Pittsburgh, PA area, J R was a long-time employee of HE&M Saw in Pryor, OK where he excelled in steel fabrication and manufacturing. In his nearly 50 years of dedicated service to the industry, he became recognized as an expert in the field. He was a drag racing enthusiast and had participated in drag racing events beginning in his teenage years, including most recently at the Mid America Ford/Shelby Meet in Tulsa, OK. It brought him great joy to see the Cubs win the World Series in his lifetime. He had a great passion for Rock & Roll and Blues and attended as many live performances as he was able throughout his lifetime. He was also a proud spectator to his children’s and grandchildren’s sporting activities.

He is preceded in death by both parents, Jack and Anne Rupprecht, his brother, Gary Rupprecht, and his wife, Nettie Lou (nee Pattarozzi) Rupprecht.

He is survived by his wife, Jeanie Rupprecht (nee Jones), five children, daughters LeAnne (John) Notabartolo, Nancy (Walter) Lawrence, Janece (David) Growney, Tina (Leif) Larsen and son John James “J.J.” (Jenna); two step-children Danielle (Clayton) Strickland and Zachary Righter; fourteen grandchildren and three great-grandchildren; and his sister, Linda Roscoe.

A Memorial Service will be held at the HE&M Saw Sales Office at 4065 South Main & Webb, Pryor, OK on Thursday, October 18, 2018 at 4:00 p.m.

If anyone would like to make any donations, please send to the American Cancer Society in honor of JR. Please send any flowers/plants to HE&M Saw, 4065 S. Main & Webb, Pryor OK 74361 for next Thursday’s Memorial Service.

A second Memorial Service will be held as a Celebration of Life in March of 2019 in Moline, IL.. Location, date and time to be determined.

Lowell Bennett is a second-generation driver who knew he wanted to race since he was a young boy helping on his dad’s race car. When he was seventeen years old he bought his dad’s 1972 Chevelle and started his dirt-racing career at Shawano Speedway in 1976. He won that very first race he competed in and has dominated ever since.

Lowell juggles time between his family, a successful car business, Bennett’s Auto, Inc.,and his racing. His wife, Sue, and his three children are certainly proud of Lowell’s success at the track and also the success of his auto business. Offering a wide range of used automobiles and an auto service center since 1982 in Neenah, Wisconsin, Lowell has managed to find enough time to have built a successful racing career as well, and has raced at over 30 different tracks and in 10 different racing series. He has amassed 27 major championships so far over his racing career.

Lowell’s personal investment of time and tireless effort to achieve great success in business and racing has taught him that utilizing quality tools helps create and retain that success. That’s why when he first encountered the HEM Saw products booth at the Performance Racing Industry trade show in November of 2010, Lowell recognized the quality of the bandsaw being represented there and made the decision then to purchase the HEM NG120 Utility Band Saw. Visiting the booth last year at the PRI 2017 Show in Indianapolis, he shared his appreciation for the quality of the saw he purchased 7 years ago with others who were considering making the same decision. He states that the NG120 has performed very well over the past 7 years and we are certain it will continue to do so. Lowell says he would highly recommend this saw to anyone and he would not want his shop to be without it. Lowell has used it to do everything from small plumbing and other repairs around the house up to building $50,000 race cars

HE&M Saw congratulates Lowell and Lowell Bennett Motorsports for building and maintaining an extremely successful racing program. We hope in some small way we were able to help in his efforts and we also thank Lowell for being a happy HEM Saw customer.

HE&M Saw is pleased to introduce Alex Meredith as our Circular Products Manager. Alex holds a degree in Mechanical Engineering, having graduated from Colorado School of Mines in 2012.

Alex serves as the Technical Advisor and Applications Engineer for our Kentai high speed circular saw products. Alex is also fluent in Spanish and utilizes his skills with our Mexico sales and technical support for both the circular and band saw products lines.

Alex has been with HE&M for 5 years, recently working as a Project Manager in our Engineering Department. He previously worked in the Quality Control and Continuous Improvement Department where he was instrumental in improving the inspection protocols and process.

HE&M Saw offers CNC Carbide Sawing Machines that are automatic, high-speed circular cutting saws with various models for cutting both ferrous and non-ferrous metals. The saws have servo drives for feeding the saw head allowing for dynamic entry and exit speeds to extend blade life and eliminate burrs. Highly accurate, a 2-1/2” round piece will have no more than a 0.002” – 0.004” out of square tolerance with proper maintenance & quality blade.

Included with the saw is HE&M’s factory service and support with HE&M Service for installation and training for personnel. Visit the CNC Carbide Sawing Machine section for the various models offered from HE&M Saw, and to view saw photos and video.

Joey Saldana is a second generation racer from Brownsburg, Indiana. Joey is the son of “Little Joe” Saldana who won the Knoxville Nationals in 1970. Saldana is 6th all-time in career World of Outlaws wins, with 110 times in victory lane. He is a 2-time Kings Royal winner, 2-time Gold Cup winner, 3-time Dirt Car Nationals champion, along with many other winning accomplishments.

HE&M was an associate sponsor on Joey’s car in 2002-2003, in 2008 when he drove for Kasey Kahne, and again in 2014-2015.

“HE&M Saw has always been committed to the racing community; and we are excited to be back sponsoring Joey Saldana with Rudeen Racing,” – Doug Harris, HE&M Saw president. “We look forward to the season and lots of success while building a loyal following where our customers and distributors can follow our winning race team.”

Please check our Facebook page routinely for updates throughout the racing season; and see you at the races!

Supporting American Manufacturing

HE&M recently became aware of the history of one of our customers and their story touched so close to home with the similarities to the origins here at HE&M Saw that we decided to do a short interview with the owners. What a fantastic story which parallels that of HE&M saw starting with humble beginnings and through hard work and perseverance, resulted in what is today a successful thriving American business.

Structural Steel Services located in El Paso Texas is owned by Maggie Chacon. Her husband, Roy, holds the General Manager position. The success story of Structural Steel Services is similar to the story and history of HE&M Saw.

“Things were pretty tough, the start-up was a rough time” Roy says. Having worked in the industry for 17 or 18 years, when the company he worked for started having business troubles, Maggie and Roy decided to go out on their own. Taking some used equipment in trade for his overdue pay and accrued vacation time, they started the business in a spare bedroom in July of 2003. Basically working day and night, Roy would take the mornings to deliver the fabricated components he had completed. By noon or 1:00pm he was back fabricating the next job until dark each day. Then at night, the estimating had to be done for any new jobs that they acquired. In 2004, they were able to rent a small facility and move the business out of the bedroom.

The first brand new pieces of equipment they were able to purchase were a forklift, and an HE&M Cyclone Band Saw. Roy says the Cyclone was instrumental in their success as they continued to gain a solid reputation for quality work and operating with high integrity and solid business ethics. Soon they also grew out of their rented space. Maggie and Roy were able to find 3½ acres of vacant land and after purchasing it began building the beautiful facility they now occupy, making the move into their new facility on October 31, 2008.

As jobs came in, were completed and delivered, larger opportunities presented themselves. When the University of Texas El Paso contracted them to build a pedestrian bridge that spanned a roadway, Roy knew they would need a larger saw and HE&M was happy to supply them with a much larger model, an H160XLM Dual Column. Roy says they can run it all day and all night if needed.

“HE&M Saw has been integral to our success”, Roy states, “and we appreciate the quality you build into the saws you manufacture because we depend on it every day for our own success”.

And successful they are. In 2007 Roy was named the U.S. Small Business Administration Minority Person of The Year and Maggie was awarded the 2012 Minority Manufacturer of The Year award. Structural Steel Services has grown and now proudly employs 25 people who are able to support their families thanks to their efforts and the “never give-up” attitudes of Maggie and Roy.

Structural Steel Services specializes in Structural Steel, Steel Joists, Steel Floor and Roof Decks, and Concrete Reinforcing Steel. They have successfully completed projects not only in Texas but also in Arizona, and New Mexico and are soon to expand with projects further away from their home base.

HE&M congratulates Maggie and Roy and their tireless efforts to build a successful company.

Gary Comiskey

We are excited to announce Gary Comiskey as our new Regional Sales Manager for Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi. He can’t wait to dive in and get started and is excited to be a part of the HE&M SAW Team.

Gary is originally from Albuquerque, NM but moved to Siloam Springs, AR a little over 24 years ago. He has been married to his wife Karen for 31 years and has two sons Austin (22) and Kyle (19). Austin is a junior at Arkansas Tech University and Kyle attends the University of Central Arkansas. He and his wife have one dog named Sadie who is a lab/coon dog mix. Gary loves sports and in his free time enjoys gardening. If you happen to ask him what his greatest achievements are, without hesitation, he will tell you his beautiful wife and their two sons.

Gary comes to us with an excellent background in sales and marketing. He was an Operations Manager for an HVAC Company where he was in charge of marketing and business development. Gary gained experience with trade shows and business sales management before starting his own Trade Show Management Firm in 2003. He has worked in every level of the supply chain and is committed to 100% customer service and satisfaction.

We are thrilled he is part of our HE&M SAW Team. Gary can be reached via cell at 918-530-9000 or by email at gcomiskey@hemsaw.com

HE&M Saw is sad to inform you of the sudden passing of Martha Swank, our Inside Sales Manager.

Martha has been an integral part of our company for over 39 years; and she will certainly be missed.

We will be having a memorial service, a celebration of life, with spreading of ashes for Jerry and Martha Swank at the end of March or early April. We will send out the date once a decision has been made so that anyone that would like to attend may do so.

Martha was an avid animal lover; and loved her dogs dearly. We ask that instead of flowers, please feel free to make a donation to the SPCA for adoption of animals, or any animal organization of your choosing, in honor of Martha Swank.

Hemsaw is sad to report the passing of a valued team member Uwe Bremer.

Uwe Jhoerg Bremer was born in Berlin, Germany and came to the United States in 1958 and married in 1964. He is survived by his wife, Caroline Bremer, and three children Natalie Hinger, Jeffrey Bremer and Danielle Lake along with grandchildren.

uwe
He came to work at HE&M Saw in June of 1984 as a Regional Sales Manager. He was our top producing salesman during his 30+ years of employment. His sales expertise and wisdom were one in a million. When times were tough he would sacrifice his commissions to keep people employed at the factory.

uwe
He touched a lot of people over the years. He will certainly be missed. He is gone, but will never be forgotten.

uwe

Because there will not be a memorial service and Uwe was such a devoted animal lover, if you would like you can make a donation in his honor to the ASPCA. www.aspca.org/donate

Our searchable library contains documentation and videos to provide step-by-step instructions for some common diagnostic, maintenance, and repair procedures. You can search for documentation by saw model or keyword.

New resources are being added to the library regularly. If you don’t see a topic that you are interested in please let us know by emailing info@hemsaw.com.